U.S. Open tennis: Christina McHale loses to Victoria Azarenka in second round

Christina McHale, of the United States, returns a shot to Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, during the second round of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014, in New York.

NEW YORK — The forgotten patch of asphalt sat in the shadow of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

There Christina McHale stood Thursday afternoon, on an intimate side court wedged between the grandest stage in American tennis and the Grand Central Parkway, two hours after losing to former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.

There was no time to mourn the 3-0 lead she held in the first set of her 6-3, 6-2 second-round defeat at the U.S. Open. There was no time to feel sorry for herself, even if the Englewood Cliffs native was one point from going ahead two breaks on the two-time Australian Open champion.

So McHale left Ashe after the loss and headed to obscure Court 4, where she won her first career mixed doubles match, a 7-5, 2-6, 12-10 first-round victory with partner Stefan Kozlov over Julia Goerges and Nenad Zimonjic.

But the dramatic victory did not ease the sting of a missed opportunity.

“It doesn’t make this loss any easier,” said a dejected McHale, ranked 44th in the world. “I’ll definitely still be thinking about this for a couple of days. And with my coaches, we’ll probably watch it again and just keep looking for how we can improve my game.”

It all fell apart in a series of marathon games in the first set. Azarenka then took over, winning nine straight and 11 of 12.

But in the first four games of the 64-minute first set, McHale, 22, proved just how formidable she can be in her fourth career match at Ashe.

Eighteen-time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova — serving as a Tennis Channel analyst — raved about McHale early. When asked what she most liked about her game, she replied: “Everything.”

And Azarenka admitted McHale had put her “a little bit on my back in the beginning.”

“I was playing aggressive. I was imposing my game,” McHale said. “And then there were a couple of really close games that had a lot of adds. Then she started playing better.

“I wasn’t dictating anymore and let her control the match.”

And everything unraveled.

McHale retreated deep behind the baseline, playing reactively. Then the swirling wind picked up in Flushing Meadows, affecting her game even further.

Smelling an opening, Azarenka, 25, grew bolder.

She won all 24 net points she attempted as McHale reverted to a hesitant style of play. And Azarenka — who missed several months this winter and spring with a left foot injury only to hurt her right knee this summer — suddenly looked more like the Grand Slam winner who beat McHale, 6-0, 6-0, in 2013.

“I feel like I’m definitely in some of these matches,” said McHale, who won only 49 percent of her first-serve points and committed 30 unforced errors. “But I feel like I have to find a way to break through and get that win. It just takes one really close match with a top player.

“Eventually the better results will start coming.”

McHale already has proven she’s a bona fide top 50 player.

She has beaten five top 10 and nine top 20 players, although none since upsetting No. 18 Lucie Safarova in February 2013. She reached her first WTA final earlier this year in the Mexican Open.

Her ranking has risen as high as No. 24. She climbed back into the top 50 this year after a series of setbacks in 2012 and 2013, including a debilitating post-London Olympics stomach bug, mononucleosis and then a coaching change.

But that long-awaited breakthrough, that career-changing victory that could propel her into the top 20 remains elusive.

After finishing doubles and mixed doubles play at the Open, McHale will play in tournaments in Asia, working on staying aggressive and avoiding the same hesitancy that hurt her so badly Thursday.

There’s always another match to play and another opportunity to get better for a woman with no quit. And she believes that breakthrough will come.

“She is a fighter,” said her father, John McHale. “She’s willing to dig deep and not give up. She’ll never give up.”